


Ready, Set, Survive

by Chosenfire



Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 04:11:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13046211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chosenfire/pseuds/Chosenfire
Summary: “We need to go.” Daniel’s voice was firm and Nick turned to follow him, stumbling as the dam continued to fracture.Set immediately after 3x16





	Ready, Set, Survive

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ahavah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ahavah/gifts).



> This is set immediately after the season 3 finale and contains spoilers for it. Most likely won't be canon complicit come season 4. I wanted to show the dynamic between these two and the growing competence Nick has shown dealing with the dead. It was a pleasure writing this and I hope you enjoy!

The path in front of him was crumbling. Daniel’s fingers dug into his shoulder and pulled, dragging Nick sideways, as the gravel moved under them. Nick couldn’t tear his eyes from where he had last seen the boat carrying his family and Strand. His ears were ringing from the explosion.

“We need to go.” Daniel’s voice was firm and Nick turned to follow him, stumbling as the dam continued to fracture. He dropped the detonator; it had fulfilled its intended purpose. The water was rushing out and the structure was collapsing.

_They’d be okay._

He had to believe that.

He had tried to give them enough time to get a safe distance away. When he’d picked the detonator off of Strand it had always been with the intention to blow it. At the end of the day, the guy had been right; the water belonged to the people.

Still, he probably should have waited. Tried to stretch time out by a few more minutes, a few more feet. Maybe they could have gotten clear. He’d seen a window though and he had taken it. It had felt inevitable. Maybe he would have made a different choice if his mom hadn’t bludgeoned his friend to death in front of him. That had been inevitable too, he just hadn’t realized it. He hadn’t seen what his mom had become.

He knew she’d be okay. But Alicia? Even Strand? They didn’t deserve to die. He’d been trying to avoid that.

“This way.” Daniel squeezed through a gap between the fence and the concrete and Nick followed, stepping over the body of one of the dam workers. He saw the twitch in the neck, heard the low rasp that had become so familiar to his day to day life. He didn’t need to see the film over the man’s eyes.

“We need to hurry.” Nick’s voice was low so as to not draw attention to them. The path they walked was littered with bodies. Some were Proctors but most were dam workers. The moans that were now reaching his ears as the ringing cleared was that of the dying and the dead. The Proctors hadn’t come in sparing anyone and the fight had been bloody.

Daniel crouched over one of the bodies and tossed a rifle Nick’s way. He caught it deftly, slinging it over his shoulder. One of the dead shuffled behind him and Nick moved swiftly, pulling the knife strapped to his belt and using the thing’s shoulder for leverage as he sunk the blade into the side of its head before it could fully turn to him. Last time he’d used that knife he’d been cutting open skulls to get to the stem. He wiped off the blood on his pants and watched as Daniel slid his own knife into the base of the skull of the body he’d looted for Nick’s weapons.

Nick saw the gash on Daniel’s cheek. The jagged edges still oozed from Strand’s missed shot. Proof that some people hadn’t turned into monsters yet.

“There are too many of them between us and freedom,” Daniel stated, sounding unbelievably calm and Nick followed his gaze to where a growing herd was forming behind them.

They were trapped.

Nick was good at getting out of traps; he’d been doing it his whole life.

“Cover yourself; arms, face,” Nick instructed as he knelt down next to the dead he had killed and used his knife to split the skin of the man’s belly. He dug his hands into the flesh, dark blood gurgling up to his elbows as he spread it around. His body was almost on autopilot as he started smearing it across the arms of his jacket and his face. He needed to smother any scent of life. He didn’t even hesitate as he smeared it down his cheeks and across his forehead. The smell was pungent but Nick had done this so many times that it’d become familiar. 

Like riding a really morbid bike.

He watched as Daniel followed suit, noting the way he avoided the wounded side of his face. It’d have to do.

“Move like they move, never too fast. If we can make it through the herd to the other side of the bridge, we can break away from them.”

Daniel nodded at his words and Nick made sure the rifle across his back was secure as he stiffened his body muscle by muscle. Like rigor mortis had set into his limbs. He craned out his neck and let his feet shuffle, eyes intent on the predators around them as they slowly joined their ranks. He could feel Daniel at his back, adding a tension to what usually felt freeing to Nick. He let his mouth fall open slightly and took a quiet breath as the dead closed in around them, those sightless eyes not even registering him.

He could do this in his sleep. Practically had done it in his sleep before he’d been found by the Colonia.

It took them over half an hour to cover what would have normally been a 5 minute walk. Daniel kept pace with him and Nick could feel his body relax as they put more distance between themselves and the growing herd.

They reached a row of trucks and Nick let himself react fully as they watched the last of the dead stumble away from them.

Daniel pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and pointed them towards one of the plain white trucks in the row. “I have a contingency plan.”

Nick didn’t stop the smile spreading across his face “Of course you do.” He looked towards where the water was still rushing down the channel. “I need to find my family.” He needed to know what had happened to them. If they’d made it out of the water.

“I need to find Victor Strand,” Daniel said, sounding just as calm as before, but Nick knew what he meant. Nick was good at knowing what people weren’t saying.

He shook his head his stomach twisting “I’m not going to watch you kill him.” Just earlier in the day, Daniel had been threatening to torture him to find out what had happened at the ranch. But Nick knew Daniel well enough to know he wouldn’t let Strand’s betrayal slide. He trailed behind Daniel to the truck and watched as he unlocked it and started checking bags in the back cab.

“You might have to.” Before Nick could say anything he was shaking his head “But not today.” His eyes burned with a familiar fire; Daniel seemed to fluctuate between calm and murder at the drop of a hat. “I have a debt to settle with Proctor John and his men first.”

“You do that,” Nick encouraged. “That guy was a dick.” 

Daniel handed him one of the backpacks and Nick tested the weight before sliding it on his shoulders. He’d check the contents later.

Daniel slid behind the wheel and told Nick, “We’ll meet again.”

Nick snorted. “I don’t doubt it.” If he came across Strand chances were good that Daniel’s vendetta would lead him the same way.

Part of the herd had broken off and Nick watched as they headed towards the water. The water that was moving one way. It was a place to start. He was set out to join them as Daniel started up the truck and pulled out, both going their separate ways.

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to my betas N and AuKestrel!


End file.
